Top Landing

In the tall house Tocko lived Pim

— and Pim heaved the sheet off the Hall tile, and went for the roof.

The sheet was cold, and full of water. Pim held it up high.

Hod from upstairs came out of the Hall, behind her, with the bag.

Pim put one hand on the bannister, and looked all the way up. Six flights of it, to the roof door.

Then Pim went up fast.

Pim wanted to be up on the top landing, with the roof door open.

Pim wanted her own hand flat on that door.

Somebody on Six went up two at a time. Nobody knew who. Nobody in Tocko had ever got up there first.

So Pim said it out loud, and Pim made it hard. Get to the top landing, before the feet go past. Or go back down to the Hall, and start again.

Then Pim said, "Listen. I am going to be up there first."

Hall.

Which is it on Six — one stair at a time, or two?

Ah. Two. It has always been two.

Pim went up the first flight fast.

One flight, and two, and three. The sheet got heavy.

Pim heard the hoover on Four. Pim heard a cough behind a door.

Then, far down at the bottom, a step. Another step, and it was a whole floor up.

Here it comes.

Pim listened. Tocko said — tud-TUD, tud-TUD. That was the rule.

The feet came past Pim at the green door.

It was somebody in a big— well. Nobody could see him. The feet went up, and the roof door banged open.

Pim came up onto the top landing after them. The roof door stood open, and nobody had a hand on it.

Hod from upstairs came up behind her, slow, with the bag.

Hod from upstairs said, "Right, so. You dripped all the way up."

Pim said, "Listen. I want to hold that door."

Somebody's coming. Two at a time.

So Pim said, "Hold the sheet. I am going without it."

Then Hod from upstairs said, "Give it here. It is wet."

Pim went back down, all the way down to the Hall. Pim stood on the tile that knocked, and waited.

Behind a door on Six, a kettle began to hiss. The kettle clicked, and stopped.

Then the step came, far down and far off. Pim ran.

Two flights up, and Pim was in front. The green door went past. Five went past.

Then the top flight, and Pim went up it fast. Pim put a foot out for the last stair.

There was no last stair.

Here it comes.

Pim listened. Tocko said — FWUMP, fwump. That was the rule.

Pim landed early, flat on the landing, and it thumped. Pim sat down hard on it.

And the feet came past her, two at a time.

Pim, and Hod, and Pim's mum, and Tocko.

Hall. Green door.

Somebody's coming. Two at a time.

Then Hod from upstairs said, "Let me."

They went all the way down to the Hall.

Pim said, "Listen. The top flight is one stair short."

And Pim said, "Your foot comes down early. It thumps."

Hod from upstairs said, "Good."

The kettle on Six went on again, far up. Then the step came, far down.

Somebody's coming. Two at a time.

Hod from upstairs went up the first flight. Almost nothing. A shoe, and a hand on the bannister.

Hod from upstairs went up the second flight. Almost nothing again.

Pim ran up behind Hod from upstairs. And behind Pim, the feet came, two at a time.

Then the top flight.

Here it comes.

Pim listened. Tocko said — KA-DRANNG-a-lang-CLONK. That was the rule.

Hod from upstairs came down on the top landing, all of him at once.

The whole flight rang. A window shook on Five. Up on the roof, the pigeons all went up.

And just below Pim, the feet stopped. The feet went to the wall, and stood aside for Pim.

Somebody stopped. Two at the wall.

So Pim went on up. Nobody went past. Pim got the top landing. Pim got the door.

Hod from upstairs said, "Right, so. Did you hear that one?"

> Up the stairs to the landing at the top.
> Get there first, and hold the door. Do not stop.

Hall. Green door. Roof.

Which one is short — the top flight, or the bottom one?

Ah. The top one, by one stair.

Pim heard the whole of it again, backwards.

KA-DRANNG-a-lang-CLONK. Hod from upstairs, all of him at once. The feet stopped below Pim, and went to the wall.

FWUMP. No stair under Pim's foot, and Pim sat down hard.

tud-TUD, tud-TUD past the green door. Nobody had the door.

One pair of feet, and one thump, and one crash.

Pim, and Hod, and Pim's mum, and Tocko.

Short flight. Early foot.

Hall. Green door. Roof. Home.

Pim stood on the top landing, with her hand flat on the roof door. The door was open, because Pim held it.

Hod from upstairs came through it with the bag. The sheet came too. Last of all, the feet came past Pim, and out on the roof.

Then the sheet went up on the line. Down in Tocko, somebody turned a tap off, and the tank gulped twice.

Hod from upstairs said, "I am the loudest, and I got you that door."

Pim said, "You are. You got me the door."

Up on the roof, Pim said, "This one is for the kettle on Six."

And Pim said, "They clicked the kettle off, and I heard the step come."

> Up the stairs to the landing at the top.
> Get there first, and hold the door. Do not stop.

Then down the stairs. Pim put the brass disc up on the board, and back up to Number Three.

Roof, green door, hall — and home.

Pim, and Hod, and Pim's mum, and Tocko.

Which one made the crash — Hod from upstairs, or Pim?

Ah. Hod from upstairs, and the landing shook.

Two taps, and Tocko tapped back. Tock, tock.